Central Region Football Association (CRFA) has organised a four-team football bonanza at Mponela ground in Dowa District with the aim of assisting newly-promoted TNM Super League side, TN Stars, to raise funds ahead of the elite league’s kickoff.
Stars became the first team from Kasungu District to qualify for Super League promotion after edging Holy Cross Ambassadors to the Chipiku CRFA Premier Division title in a nail-biting finish late last year and will need more money to fulfill fixtures in all the three regions of the country.
CRFA Vice General Secretary, Anthony Manda, said the association is targeting about K3 million from today’s bonanza.
“Apart from revenue realised at the bonanza, we have also identified a sponsor who is ready to give something to Stars to use in their maiden Super League campaign.
“We, as an association, just thought it was important that we come in and provide support to our ambassadors in the top-flight league. It is not like Stars are helpless, but we are just doing this as a mark of goodwill to a team that will represent us in the national league,” Manda said.
Manda, however said, due to other commitments, Stars have been exempted from the event.
“We earlier planned to have the bonanza next week and then discovered that Football Association of Malawi is having the Charity Shield at Bingu National Stadium on the same weekend. To avoid confusing fans, we settled for changing the dates to the Easter holiday.
“You will also note that Stars will be having some friendly games during the same period, which makes it difficult for them to be with us in Mponela,” he added.
Mlatho Mponela, Kasungu Police, Nambuma United and Jidi FC are the four sides set to battle for honours.
The bonanza’s fixture has pitted Mlatho against Kasungu Police while Nambuma will lock horns with Jidi.
Winners of the two matches will meet in the final to determine the king of the day-long bonanza.
TN Stars will be hoping to use the newly-constructed Kasungu Stadium as their home ground as they aim at surviving the chop in their first season.
On the other hand, Stars’ Northern and Southern Region counterparts—Karonga United and Nchalo United—are not strangers in the elite league as they have faced the chop on several occasions.
The two are likely to use their experience to help them beat relegation.
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